Hospital of Doom
by Torchwood Cardiff
Summary: The Spooks Code 9 team are called to a local hospital just outside of central London, when the NHS threatens to shut them down due to poor patient care. Warnings: Sexual assault and child abuse. Childbirth. Contains graphic depictions of medical exams. Strong Language. Read at your own risk.
1. We're doing what?

**_Warnings: Sexual assault and child abuse. Childbirth. Contains graphic depictions of medical exams._**

**_Spoilers: All of Spooks: Code 9._**

**_Thanks to Evelyn Carver for her help with this._**

* * *

_A woman sat holding her child in her lap in the A&E waiting were waiting for their name to be called. Her three year old son had woken up with difficulty breathing that morning. She was nervous about this hospital due to what she had heard, but they had no choice. Her son needed help, and she hoped he would not die under the hospital's care. As a nurse called their name, she looked up, holding her son tightly._

Charlie looked through the latest mission. Going undercover at hospital seemed like a good idea. They could pass as Junior Doctors. He was nervous about being in a hospital again, he had worked in one briefly as part of the general science program he had been in, until he had switched over to Mathematics. Really, only Rob would be at home in the hospital and he was going to need to help the rest of the team get their skills up to par.

Rachel groaned as Rob took his place at the front of the room. As a policewoman she was a fully trained first responder and she doubted that Rob would be able to teach her anything in a few hours that the police service hadn't shown her in the intensive week long course that had been part of her training as a constable.

Vik sighed, He did not want to do this. He had training as an Assistant Ambulance Practitioner but he wasn't at ease at all.

"What do you think, Rachel?" Vik asked her.

"I don't know...I've never had the chance to really be in a hospital setting."

"We're done for if you can't relax," Rob sighed. "I don't like this anymore then you do."

"What if I do something wrong?" Rachel asked.

"You're spies for fuck's sake! If all the doctors had guns and would shoot you if you slipped up, do you think you could do this? It's not different from any other mission!" Rob crossed his arms and glared at them. "You've all done stuff much, much harder than this. Get over yourselves, you'll make mistakes and move on. It's not like whatever you do will affect your future as a doctor."

"I don't like being spewed on," Vik said.

"Do I look like I care, Vik?" Rob asked. "You've all bled on me before. Do I complain?"

"No," Vik said. "But I just don't want to be alone with anyone."

"Get used to it, Vik," Charlie muttered. "Not everyone is out to sue."

"Fine," Vik muttered. "Better not be any kids."

"There could be," Rob warned.

"Just fucking great."

Rachel sighed. "Okay, so can I run through it with a kid who don't mind me being clueless?"

"Sure thing," Rob said. "I'll get Kate Yates. She's a ward of MI5."

* * *

Rachel smiled nervously. The girl was sitting on their work table, all the laptops had been cleared off, and she was swinging her legs and looked bored more than anything.

"H-Hello." She said, mentally cursing her nerves as they came out through her voice. "I'm," She glanced over at Charlie and Rob, what was her name going to be? "I'm Rachel and I'm going to examine you while my colleagues here make sure that I don't make any mistakes."

"Can they not be here?" Kate muttered, pointing at Charlie and Rob.

Rachel put her hand on Kate's shoulder, the girl was shaking with fear. "Shh, it's okay," she said softly."Why do you not want them here?"

Kate looked down at the floor, her blond hair covering her face. It was clear she was scared of something.

Rachel looked at Charlie and Rob. "What do you think?"

Rob looked at Kate. "We're just watching, nothing more."

Kate shook her head and cowered back. "No," she said softly.

Rachel glanced at Rob. "What's happened to her?"

"No idea."

Rachel sighed. "Okay, so what now?"

"Let's get her somewhere else," Rob said as Rachel helped the girl off of the desk.

They walked in the corridor to a small exam room that had just been set up. There wasn't much in there for emergencies, but for what they needed to do, it would work.

"Okay," Rob looked at Rachel. "The CCTV is on, have at it." He gave her a reassuring smile and left the room.

Rachel looked at Kate, as she nodded to the bed. "Can you have a seat on there? I won't do anything yet."

Kate nodded as Rachel grabbed a stool. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The girl pulled her knees up to her chest. "I don't want it hurt," she whispered.

Rachel took a deep breath. "It won't, Kate." She assured the girl.

"They tried to..." Kate looked away. "I mean.."

Rachel dreaded what she was trying to say but didn't put the option out there. "Did someone do something that hurt you Kate? Did your mother ever hurt you? Are you hurting right now?"

Kate didn't answer, instead she lifted her t-shirt up a few inches. Rachel could already see the dark blue fingerprint shaped bruises that wrapped around her hips

"Sexual assault," Rachel muttered. "Please take off your shirt and trousers. Once I can see what happened I can try to help you stop hurting."

Kate did as she was asked, the bruises want down under her pants. Why the girl wasn't looked at when they picked her up was beyond her.

Rachel grabbed a sheet and covered her with it. Then reached for a set of gloves. "Okay," She looked at Kate. "Can you lie back?"

Kate did as she was asked, shaking a bit.

"It's all right," Rachel said softly. "I need to look inside your vigina, Remeber, I'm a doctor so it's okay. Can you take off your pants?"

Kate shook her head. "No, don't make me!"

Rachel looked at her. "Just for a minute, okay? You could be really hurt and I can't help you unless I know how hurt you are and wear. So please remove your pants."

"No," Kate whimpered, sitting up and looking around the room in fear.

Rachel put her hand on Kate's shoulder. "It's just you and me in here." A sudden thought came to her. "Have you ever had been exam there before?"

"N-no," Kate shook her head.

"Okay," Rachel said. "What I need you to do is take off your pants and bend your knees, keep your ankles together and open your legs."

Kate took off her pants and did as she was asked. Rachel put on gloves, noting that there were bruises and tears visible on the skin on the girl's outer genital that would point to a violent assault.

She's been sexually assaulted.

Rachel pull the skin apart a little and got a free view onto the entrance of the girl, she could clearly see that there must have been penetration at one point.

Kate whimpered.

"I know, it's sore," Rachel finished the exam as gently as possible, covering Kate back up. She tossed her gloves in the bin and washed her hands. She looked at the girl, why did anyone not see this?

Just then there was a knock on the door and Rob entered. "I heard everything," He said, keeping away from Kate in case she was scared.

Rachel walked over to him. "Some bastard tried to rape her," she whispered. "Why wasn't she examined when she was found?"

"I wish I knew," Rob said. "We weren't on the team that found her."

"So much for just a basic practice exam," Rachel sighed. "What now, Is there a list of what to do?"

"Shit," Rob muttered. "I would say get samples, but that'd be putting her though way too much."

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, nothing I found was life threatening."

"Okay, well..." Rob thought about it for a minute. "Finish the exam, and I'll talk to the others about what happened."

Rachel nodded. "Thanks, Rob."

"Anytime," He shut the door as he left'

Rachel finished the exam and talked to the agent in charge of Kate. She knew Kate was in good hands when Rachel walked back to Field Office Nineteen.

Rachel grabbed her textbooks and sat down to steady them. Tomorrow the mission was going to start and she better not slip up too much.


	2. How did we get this case?

**_A/N: Must I warn for medical procedures? It's a hospital!_**

* * *

"I don't like him," Vik said as they went to lunch.

"How's it going Rachel? The head doctor nice?"

Rachel looked at them. "I haven't seen her yet."

"Oh?" Rob asked.

"Yeah, cos I was handed five patients straight away."

"What?!" Rob asked.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "It's not a big deal. One already had her baby."

Before Rob could reply, Charlie came in.

"How's it going, guys?"

Charlie sat down. "Our boss is a jerk!"

"How so?"

"He's just sarcastic," Vik said as they ate their launch. "Rubbish bedside manner."

"Are you seeing any of the signs?" Rob asked.

Rachel put down her phone. "A few. I've called for a team to meet me in a patients room and they don't show up." She sighed. "It was just as well with the first one. Poor thing was scared enough with just me there."

Rob nodded. "Good work, keep at it." He looked at Vik and Charlie, "How about you?"

"A&E's been hell," Vik said. "But at least we get to go to the pediatrics section this afternoon. Give us a chance to look around and see what's been going on."

Rob chuckled, "Get ready for spewing up kids and stitching up wounds."

"Okay, we will," Vik said.

They looked at the clock, their lunch break was about over.

"We'd better get back to work." Charlie said,

They all went back to their duties.

* * *

"Well," Vik muttered about ten minutes later. "Nothing happening here."

Just then a nurse walked by. "Vik, right?" She asked.

"Yes?" He asked, looking at her.

"Got a twelve year child in room ten, he's in a gown, waiting for a doctor. I know you're a junior doctor, but it might be easier if a male doctor takes a look at him."

"Okay, thanks." He went to the room and saw the boy on the bed curled into a ball and whimpering in pain. A woman who looked to be his mother was sitting by him.

"Hi there," Vik said. "I'm Vik, one of the junior doctor's here. Can you tell me what brings you here today?"

"He can tell you."

"Okay, what's your name?" Vik asked. "Mrs..?"

"Joanna Crow. This is Matt," She said, pushing her blond hair back. "I see it's tea time and I need some." She got up and went to leave the room.

"Mrs. Crow," Vik said. "You need to be here with him."

The woman didn't pay him any mind and left.

"No way," Vik muttered. "Shit..." He eyed the boy, he was still in the same position. He sighed, knowing he needed help. He sent a text to Charlie.

_Need help. Situation with patient in room ten._

* * *

Charlie entered the room a few seconds later. "Hey, what's up?" He saw the child on the bed.

Vik nodded at the child on the bed as he moved away from the boy.

"What happened to him and where's his mother?" Charlie asked in a low tone.

"She said he could tell us. His mother wouldn't stay cos she needed her tea." VIk said.

"Poor kid." Charlie shook his head.

"I know," Vik said. "We need to take a look at him."

Charlie frowned then nodded. "Okay, you want to see if we can get him onto his back?"

"Sure," Vik gently laid his hand on the child's shoulder. "Hey there, Matt. My name's Vik and this is Charlie. We're Junior Doctors."

The child whimpered.

"It's okay," Vik assured him. "We won't hurt you."

Matt nodded.

"Can you roll onto your back?" Charlie asked gently.

Matt did so, looking up at the young spies in fear.

"It's okay," Charlie spoke softly. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was on the climbing frame and I fell off," Matt said.

"Where did you land?" Charlie asked.

"On a bar."

"Where are you hurt?" Vik asked.

Matt pointed to where the sheet covered him. "There."

"Anywhere else?"

Matt shrugged.

"How high up were you?"

"Almost to the top." Matt said.

Charlie and Vik looked at each other. They had gotten about as much information as they could.

"Matt," Charlie begin softly, "We need to see where you were hurt so we can help you."

Matt slowly nodded as they washed their hands and slipped on gloves from the box on the wall.

"I need you to bend your knees and let your legs fall open, like a frog. Can you do that?" Vik asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Okay," Matt said.

"I'm just going to move the sheet down," Vik warned, once the child was in the position he needed to be in.

Matt tensed up, "It hurts!" He cried. "I want my mum!"

Charlie put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Take some deep breaths, mate. I know it's a scary thing to have done, but you're doing great." He could feel the child shaking. "Breathe. Hold my hand if you want to."

Matt did so, looking at Vik with uncertainty in his eyes, squeezing Charlie's hand. "Did I do something wrong?"

Vik glanced at Charlie. This was going to be harder than they thought. None of it was the child's fault, they had to be sure that they made that clear.

"No, Matt," Charlie said softly. "It's not your fault you fell."

"You didn't do anything wrong." Vik added, smiling slightly at the child.

"Where's my mum?"

"She-uh..." Charlie paused, unsure what to say.

"She had an errand to run," Vik added quickly.

"Okay." Matt said.

Charlie and Vik looked at each other with relief.

"What's going to happened?" The child asked.

"All I'm going to do is move the sheet down, lift up your gown up a bit and take a look," Vik said calmly.

Matt shook his head, gripping Charlie's hand.

Vik looked the child in the eyes. "I need to make sure there's no bleeding, nothing more."

"You have to touch me?" Matt asked. "You a pervert?"

Charlie resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Kids seemed to think every doctor was a pervert. He made a mental note to ask Rob about it later.

"Just for a minute," Vik said gently.

The child tensed up. "My mum's not here."

"We're doctors, Matt," Vik reminded him softly. "It's okay for us to look." He moved the sheet down and eased his gown up a bit.

Matt's grip on Charlie's hand tightened as he felt Vik check for bleeding.

"There's some blood," Vik said, holding pressure with a gauze pad.

Matt's breath hitched, tears running down his cheeks. "Stop!" He struggled against what Vik was trying to do.

Charlie put his hand on the child's shoulder, holding him in place. "Shh, it's okay."

Vik checked the area again. The blood flow was slowing, and it wasn't deep enough to need stitches.

Matt slowly calmed down.

"Okay, we're done," Vik said gently. "You did well." He covered the child back up, tossing his gloves in the bin, and washing his hands.

"Charlie, can you finish here? I'm going to see where his mother is." He got up and headed to the door, closing it as he left.

Charlie slipped off his gloves and washed his hands. "I'm just going to finish up the rest of the exam," He explained, setting the stethoscope and other supplies near the child.

Matt flinched. "W-will it hurt?"

"No," Charlie gave Matt a reassuring smile. He pulled up the child's hospital gown, making sure the sheet covered him.

"Just need to feel around your stomach, tell me if it hurts," Charlie warned. He placed his hand on the boy's abdomen and felt him tense.

"It's okay, " Charlie soothed, not moving his hand.

Matt slowly started to relax.

"Anything sore here?" He gently felt around, watching Matt's face for signs of pain.

"No."

Suddenly Charlie noticed a feeding tube up a bit further up. It looked like it was about to fall out.

"What can you tell me about this, Matt?" He slipped on gloves.

"It's what I use to eat with. I can't eat normally."

Charlie saw blood in the tube. He gently checked the site for bleeding.

Matt tensed. "It hurts."

"Okay, hang on." Charlie snapped off his gloves and grabbed his phone. He sent a text to Vik.

Get in here now. Got another situation with Matt.

"What's going to happen?" Matt asked.

"We need to find out why there's blood in your tube," Charlie explained, doing the last bit of the exam and waited for Vik to show up.

* * *

Vik entered and motioned Charlie to the other side of the room. '"We have trouble," Vik said.

"What kind?" Charlie asked.

"His mum was just taken by police, looks like an abuse situation."

Charlie looked at Vik, "You're bloody kidding me!" He hissed.

"No, I'm not," Vik said. "His aunt's on her way, be about two hours."

Charlie nodded, explaining what had happened. "Let's get a new feeding tube inserted."

"What size?" Vik asked.

"18Fr, 3.0 cm," Charlie said.

"Right," Vik went to get the tube kit. He hoped they could do this.

"Okay, Charlie said as Vik entered the room. They looked at Matt who was watching them.

"Hey there, Matt," Vik said as they approached the child.

Matt looked at the slim box that Vik held. "What's that?" He asked, shaking.

Vik looked at Charlie who nodded, "There's some blood in your feeding tube, Matt. It's about to fall out. We need to remove it and put in a new one."

Matt slowly nodded.

"Okay," Vik set the kit out, along with a cup of water. Then he and Charlie washed their hands and pulled on gloves.

Matt tensed as Charlie laid a sterile sheet over his abdomen.

"This is just so we won't get anything on you," He explained as Vik run through the directions that came with the kit. They didn't seem that difficult.

"Now," Vik said. "What I'm going to do just remove the water from the balloon, then slowly pull this one out and insert the new one."

Matt nodded. "Okay."

Vik gently inserted the tip of the syringe into the balloon port and pulled on the plunger. He got about 1 cc of water. He tried again and got nothing but air.

"This will feel cold," Vik warned, taking some lubricant and putting it around the tube.

Matt yelp as it hit his skin. "It's cold!"

"Easy," Vik said. "You'll feel a slight pressure as I remove it." He gently started to pull it up. "Breathe."

Matt cried out and tensed up. "It's hurting!" He pushed at Vik's hands.

Vik froze when Matt began to push at his hands, shooting a look at Charlie, as he got a better grip on the tube.

"Matt," Charlie said softly. "I know it hurts, but we have to do this. It'll hurt even worse if we leave it alone."

Matt sniffed, looking at Vik with fear. "It hurts!

"Is it the more pressure you're feeling?" Vik asked.

Matt looked confused. "What?"

Vik gently pulled up on the tube. "That."

"Yeah," Matt relaxed.

"You need to breathe," Charlie said. "It won't be so bad then." He smiled at the child. "Can you do that?"

"Don't want to," Matt said.

Charlie looked at Vik, "Now what?"

"We'll try the instructions again." Vik said, "but why don't you step out into the hallway and send Rob an urgent message, we could really use his help."

Their second attempt was as fruitless as the first.

Charlie stepped out and saw Rob just coming down the hall.

"Rob, we need some help."

"Why do you need me?" He asked.

"Feeding tube removal, and the kid is fighting it."

"That's basic work Charlie. You should be able to do this." Rob crossed his arms and frowned at him before stepping into the room.

Vik huffed as Rob and Charlie stepped into the room. "Let's see you do this Rob, if you think it is so basic." He scowled, he could hear what they had said out in the hallway.

"How much have you tired?" Rob asked. "Looks like you about have it..."

"Twice," Charlie said, as the kid tensed up again at the feeling of it being pulled out. "That's what he does."

"Should we get a specialist here?" Vik asked.

"Don't have them," Rob said as he washed his hands and snapped on gloves.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"Well, Matt, since my colleagues here are proving to be incompetent idiots, I'm going to get this done myself." Rob stepped towards him and glanced down at the kit.

Matt cowered back, "I don't want this!"

"Too bad, mate. You don't have a choice," Rob said. He looked at how far the tube was out. "Right, Vik, let go."

Vik let go, he was getting pissed off anyway. "Have at it."

"Right then, we'll get this done quickly and you'll feel better." Rob bent over Matt and ignored the child's protesting words and noises. He struggled under Rob's hands.

Rob grabbed the kid's arms tightly. "Now listen to me. I have to do this. If you struggle, it's only going to be more painful for you. Close your eyes, lie still and it will all be over soon."

Matt shook his head as Rob released him. "No!"

Rob ignored the kid and gently pulled the tube out. "Okay, it's out." He tossed the old tube on the table and examined the site for infection.

Vik grabbed the new tube and put lubricant on it. "Here."

Rob gently inserted the new tube. "There you go. It's over," He inflated the balloon on the new tube. "How are you doing?"

"All right," Matt whispered.

"Glad to hear it," Rob gave the kid a pat on his shoulder. Once they had finished the procedure, and made sure the boy was okay, they left the room.

Rob looked at Charlie and Vik."You weren't kidding."

"Oh, so now you say that!" Charlie said. "Can you really do that? Just force a patient to do what you want if they are not cooperating?"

"In this case, yes," Rob said. "You didn't read that?"

"No," Vik muttered.

Rob sighed. "If the mother was still involved, or any parent or guardian, we could have simply gotten their permission. And if he continued to refuse treatment that was necessary to his survival, you would have needed to call for a section since he was endangering his life. But a procedure like that one has almost no risk associated and it needed to be done."

"They mostly said not to cos the kid would be scared if they were forced," Vik said. "There was nothing about that."

"Well sometimes you need to do what's best for the patient," Rob said. "Even if it feels like torture to you."

* * *

**_The feeding tube removal in this chapter is based on my own personal experiences._**


	3. We have him again

**_Warnings: Same as last chapter. If you can't handle it, don't read it._**

* * *

After two days in the A&E, Vik and Charlie were getting used to how things worked there. They had been comfortable enough to deal with some patients on their own.

Around 14:00 a nurse approached the agents. "Vik, Charlie. We need to help with a child in room thirteen. I think you had him before."

Vik and Charlie followed the nurse into the room, inside there was another nurse and a doctor. One glance at the patient told them who it was.

"It's Matt," Charlie said, in a low tone to Vik who nodded.

"We need to examine him for abuse," Doctor Hollander explained. He was a senior doctor from Scotland. Charlie and Vik didn't like him at all. They had both seen how he was with patients and he didn't seem very caring about what was going on with them.

"So, why do you need us?" Vik asked, walking over to the kid and giving him a reassuring smile. He introduced himself and Charlie.

"He's scared of me and we need you to restrain him."

The whole thing sounded off to the agents. Charlie looked at Vik who was calmly talking to the boy about something. They had already had some trust going there.

"I won't put him through that with you in here," Charlie said. He read what the kid had been brought in for.

The doctor leaned against the wall. "I can't trust you, students muck things up all the time."

Vik sighed, "We're not like most students."

"It's protocol-" The doctor approached the frightened child,

Matt started shaking as the doctor approached him.

"Don't hurt me!" He screamed.

"He's scared of me," the doctor said as if it wasn't a big deal.

"What do you expect him to be like?" Vik shot back. "He's just been put through something a child should never have to deal with."

The doctor looked at Vik. "That's normal, you're just students."

Vik stared calmly at him. "I want to do what's best for the kid."

"Don't we all, but he's scared, I think sedation is the best thing for him."

"We were alone with him before," Vik shot back. "We're not perverts."

"There's no way," the doctor said.

Charlie was taking the child's pulse . It was above normal range."Way too fast," He muttered.

"Yeah, he's scared," the doctor said.

"Yeah, due to you," Charlie snapped. He was getting pissed off about the whole thing.

Matt coughed, then wretched.

"Get a bucket!" Charlie warned. But it was too late, Matt ended up spewing up on himself.

Vik pulled the curtain. "I've had just about enough of this." He said, grabbing a fresh gown, stethoscope, IV needle and a few other items that he thought might be needed.

Matt slowly changed into the new gown and sank back down on the bed, sweating and breathing hard. The older doctor glared at him, as if his health problems somehow made him into some kind of disgusting creature.

Vik and Charlie both breathed a sigh of relief when the pager on Doctor Hollander's belt went off and he glanced down at it and then back at them for a moment.

"Don't do anything stupid." He growled before turning and walking quickly down the hall in the direction of whatever poor sod had paged him.

Just then the intercom went off. No doubt this was bigger than they thought,

"Oh don't worry," Charlie muttered. "The one being stupid just left." He glanced at the chart. The child was running a temperature of 41C,

"Get an IV set up, Vik," Charlie said. "Normal Cooled Saline for now." He looked at the boy. "I'll get a cooling blanket.

Vik set up the line, the bag felt cold in his hands. He couldn't imagine how uncomfortable it would feel going in, not that Matt was going to be aware of it.

Charlie laid the cooling blanket on the child. "You want to do this?" He looked at Vik.

"Sure," Vik pulled on gloves, and started checking for any suitable veins in Matt's hands and arms. "Can't find anything." He looked at Charlie. "Femoral placement?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah." He bent over so that he was directly in Matt's line of sight. "Hey Matt, I know you remember us. You've got a very high fever. Do you feel warm?"

"My head hurts!" Matt whimpered.

Charlie placed a hand on his arm. "You have been sweating a lot and that made you dehydrated. That's why your head hurts. Vik is going to try and help you feel better. He's going to put a line in that will give your body liquid without you having to drink it."

Matt glanced around, tensing as the smell of alcohol hit the air. "What's that?" He tried to move away, but couldn't. Everything hurt. He started to struggle with being able to take a breath.

"Easy," Charlie said, grabbed a stethoscope from the crash cart. "Deep breath," He said moving back to Matt's side, easing his gown up and auscultated his lungs.

Matt pulled back from the intrusion. He didn't like the feeling of the coldness of the stethoscope. "What's...that?" He gasped, glancing around in fear.

Charlie put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from moving away. "It's okay, I'm going to finish listening to your lungs. It's really important that I do this right now. Just relax and it will be over quickly."

Matt nodded, and Charlie finished the auscultation. He got an oxygen mask and held it to the boy's face, motioning for Matt to hold it while he secured the straps. "Get that IV in, now."

Vik inserted the line and had it running in no time. Matt didn't even flinch, and that worried them.

"That needs checked every three minutes. He's at risk for it collapsing."

Charlie changed gloves and briefly examined the tube. "Nothing," He gently pulled up on it, and tube slipped out as if it had never been inserted.

"Get me another one, stat, Vik!" Charlie ordered, turning to the child as Vik rushed out to grab a new kit. "Matt, don't move, your feeding tube just came out." Charlie said the words as calmly as possible, hoping he didn't scare the child.

"It...won't close...?" Matt gasped.

"No, no." Charlie assured him. "Vik's on the way with a new one."

Vik entered the room, holding the kit. "Got it."

Matt glanced at it, but didn't do anything more as Vik washed his hands and put on gloves.

Vik grabbed the lubricant and opened the cap, he went to put it round the tube, but got a whole glob in his hand instead. "Um, Charlie?"

Charlie snorted. "Don't look at me." He snapped on gloves. "Give me that before you drop it."

Vik handed him the tube covered in lubricant and Charlie inserted it. He pulled off his gloves and washed his hands then sent Rob a text, asking him to come for a consult on a patient,

Rob entered the room. "What's up?" he asked, looking at the kid. "Him again?" He sighed.

"We need to get him to CCU," Charlie said. "He's not doing well."

Rob nodded. "I'll see what the holdup is."

Charlie and Vik looked at each other. They hoped this child would make it.


	4. What am I doing?

**_Warning: Childbirth If you can't handle it, don't read it._**

* * *

Rachel read though the chart on her newest patient. A young thirteen year old girl. Rachel set the chart down and walked in, seeing the girl, on the bed in pain. She shut the door and approached her patient.

"I'm Rachel, one of the junior Doctors here. What's your name?" Rachel washed her hands, grabbed an OB Kit and set it up.

"Joy," the girl turned to look at her. "It hurts!"

"I called for help, they should be here soon," Rachel assured her. "But right now I need to see if your pelvis is wide enough to allow for birth, and to check how far dilated you are." Rachel made sure that there was everything she needed within reach.

Rachel perched herself on the edge of the bed. "I need you to lie back and relax." She put on a set of gloves.

Joy flinched as she felt the cold glove brush the back of her thigh.

"You're doing really well," Rachel praised gently as she lifted the sheet up over her knees. "Hold still for me. I'm going to begin now."

Joy whimpered. "No!" Her thighs quivered as she ground in her heels and curled her toes, knees suddenly clamped together.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Rachel assured her again. "I'm just going to take a look and see what's going on. It's very important that you relax. Not just here. Take a deep breath. Let your knees fall open." Joy slowly did as Rachel asked. "I'm going to have a quick feel inside you, okay? Nothing to worry about, this is normal. I just need to see how far down the baby is. Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"What?" Joy yelped. "You're putting your fingers inside me?"

"Yes," Rachel said calmly, placing the lubricant on the tip of her fingers. As the intrusive digit entered her body, Joy cried out and clenched in fear "No, stop!"

"I'll be done in a second," Rachel answered.

"Don't!" Joy gasped.

"I'll be done in second," Rachel assured her.

"Stop!" she repeated. "My mum said if someone does something that feels wrong, to tell them to stop. So stop!" Joy screamed.

Rachel stopped and sighed gently, realising how close to panic Joy was. "I know," she told the girl. "And your mum is absolutely right. But I have to do this to make sure the baby is okay and you are okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Do you understand?"

Joy shook her head, as another contraction took a hold of her. "No."

Rachel snapped off the gloves and washed her hands. She walked over to Joy's left side, laying her hand on the girls shoulder. "Sometimes a doctor has to do things that feel weird. They do that because they want to make sure their patients healthy and normal. If somebody else does something that feels wrong then you should tell them to stop. But I'm a doctor, and at the moment, you're my patient. I need to be sure you are not going to be harmed by what happened and what's going to happen very shortly."

"All right."

Rachel moved to put on another pair of gloves. She placed herself back at the side of the table and sat on the end of the bed. "Are you ready?"

Joy whimpered a bit, but nodded her assent.

Slower than before, Rachel moved her fingers around again, checking the position of the baby.

"Examination done," she assured Joy. "You see? Nothing to it. You're nine centimetres dilated, which means you're almost ready to push." Rachel observed Joy moaning loudly. "Need something for the pain? It'll help you relax a bit more." She said

"Yes," Joy whispered. "It won't be needles will it?" she added with a sudden squeal.

Rachel gave her a smile and held out a mask on a hose attached to a large gas canister. "This is laughing gas. It doesn't make you laugh really, but it makes you feel like you want to. So when you get any pain take nice slow breaths on this until it stops, okay."

Joy nodded and a few seconds later she covered her face with the mask and breathed it in, just as Rachel instructed. At the end of it, even though she still moaned occasionally, she was a lot calmer.

"How was that?"

Joy blinked at her as the effects wore off. "Can I take some of this home with me?"

Rachel grinned at her. "No." She wondered where the help was that she had asked for.

"Let's try again," Rachel said, and Joy nodded. She pulled off the gloves to examine the position of the baby in the few seconds she had before the next contraction. "Baby's head down. So this should be pretty straightforward, if a little bit fast."

"It hurts!" Joy cried, snatching the mask away from her face. "I need the loo."

"That's the baby moving down," Rachel explained, washing her hands again and opening another set of sterile gloves. "The pressure makes you feel like you have to go. Looks like you're fully dilated."

"What does that mean?" Joy asked as another contraction hit her and she puffed loudly on the gas.

"You're going to have this baby any minute," Rachel said. It looked like her help wasn't coming, she would have to do this on her own.

Joy nodded as she lowered the mask. "It hurts."

"I know,"Rachel said "Baby is nice and low and ready to come out. And that's just where we want it," she said, covering Joy back up and tossing the gloves into the incinerator bin.

Rachel continued to observe the contractions, hearing Joy groan through the mask, and realised the birth was very close. She started to prepare herself. "I'm going to raise your head up," Rachel explained, pressing her foot on the pedal that would make that possible. Now Joy was sitting almost upright, and her legs splayed under her own steam during the last contraction.

Joy nodded breathlessly. "Can you give me something so it won't hurt? The gas is good, but it's not helping enough."

"It's going to be painful, but there's nothing else I can give you and you'll have to leave the gas alone now. It's too late for anything else anyway," Rachel said as calmly as she could, trying to give her as much reassurance as possible.

"What?" Joy screamed. "I can't do this!"

"Of course you can. You're healthy, you're ready to give birth, and the baby is on its way."

Rachel plucked the gas from Joy's hand, leaving the poor girl to squirm and cry. She looked at Joy. "I can't give you anything, too late for that. You can do this."

"I'm scared," Joy said, watching as Rachel finished preparing for the delivery, now wearing a plastic apron and gloves.

"Okay, Joy," Rachel told her calmly as she sat down. Joy was in the middle of a wailing cry so she wasn't sure she was listening. "What I need you to do is concentrate on my instructions."

Joy groaned again "Can't you just pull it out?"

"Afraid not. You'll have to do the hard work. And push when you feel the pressure."

Joy's face screwed up as she pushed for the first time. "Like that?"

"Well, done, Joy," Rachel encouraged. "Keep going as and when you need to. I'll tell you when to stop," she could already see the baby's head. It was not hanging around.

Joy nodded, pushing through another contraction.

"Joy, stop pushing," Rachel spoke gently. "Pant like a big dog after a long run."

Joy did so, panting increasingly loudly until she let out a long cry.

"Okay, relax. Head's out," Rachel said, fingering the edge of the baby's chin and neck to check for the cord.

Joy tried to push again, feeling really uncomfortable.

"I need you to stop pushing. I know it's hard when you feel so much pressure, but breathe slowly. Wait for a second, okay?" Rachel could really use the help, she looked at the door, but there was no-one there.

"Why? Is there something wrong?"

"Just a slight hiccup, happens sometimes. The cord is around the baby's neck," Rachel said, hoping that her tone didn't give away her discomfort about lying. It was extremely tight, but she needed to keep Joy as calm as possible. If not, the cord would snap and the baby would bleed to death.

Joy relaxed against the pillows, breathing deeply.

"Good," Rachel said, as she managed to loop the cord over the baby's head without having to resort to cutting it. Soon as she did, the baby started to move forward again and Joy leaned forward to push.

"Looks like one or two more pushes, and she'll be out. Ready?"

Joy nodded and started to push again. And with one more cry the baby slid all the way out.

"She's out!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Really?" Joy asked, gasping.

"Yes," Reachl said with a wide smile.

"Can I hold her?" Joy asked.

"Of course you can," Rachel said gently, and laid the newborn on her exposed belly.

Joy looked at her for a long moment. "Is she all right?"

Rachel gently rubbed the baby's chest and she began to cry, turning pink in seconds. She clamped the cord in two places and cut it. "She's fine, as far as I can see. I'm just going to make sure you're okay and clean you up, all right?" She asked.

Joy nodded.

"Looks like you're fine here," Rachel stated. "You did well. I wish some of my adult patients were as calm as you," she praised with a smile. "Just need to stop the bleeding. It's running a little fast and a little red here. So we're going to need to remove the placenta a bit earlier than usual. It means an injection." She grimaced a bit. "But if you've done that, a little injection should be easy, eh?"

Joy nodded in agreement, as Rachel injected the drug into Joy's thigh.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," Rachel said. The door opened, and a doctor and two nurses stood there.

"Is someone about to have a baby?" the doctor asked, looking at the scene before him. "Oh, I guess we're too late. We were on break when your call came in. Thought she had time." He rolled his eyes. "So inpatient...could have waited."

Rachel tossed her gloves and the supplies in the bin. She walked over to the doctor and his team, glaring at them with anger. "That's no excuse, you should have sent another team if your break was so bloody important!"


End file.
